Turning Pain and Stress into Health

From Pain and Stress to Health

Whether you’re dealing with pain and stress, or you’re just sick of ordinary and wanting to discover your full potential for health and life, we aim to meet you where you’re at, and then assist you in attaining your goals.

Not an Ordinary  FAQ Page

The following sections expand upon our home page,  to simplify your path towards your health goal and clarify how Foundation might be uniquely positioned to help you on that journey.  Whether or not you choose Foundation, the following information aims to provide helpful insights.

You will learn about You, your health concerns, how stress becomes the Primary Condition underlying most of those health concerns, and how we address that problem in a manner the keeps helping into your future.

The final section explains what you can expect as a new patient at Foundation, and how our Neurostructural Optimisation process unfolds as you find ease, energy and more of who you really want to be.

Start with Your Foundation

Our world has changed considerably over the last century, even in the last decade.  We are increasingly waking up to the value of proactively enhancing our health.

People are training at gyms, and cleaning up their diets.  They’re practicing yoga and meditating; even wearing devices to monitor the quality of their sleep…

But there’s a fundamental piece of this puzzle most people miss out on.  A piece that can greatly assist your efforts to achieve the health and happiness you seek.

Think about it this way;  what’s the ONE thing that:

–  Turns your gym session into fitness,

–  Converts that new diet into health,

–  Builds your deeper connection during yoga,

–  Produces the clarity you seek with meditation…

…Your Nervous System

Your nervous system evolved in nature over hundreds of millions of years.  It comprises your brain and spinal cord, 70 kilometers of nerves, and more connections than there are stars in our galaxy.  It’s also the first system that appears in a developing human, starting just 3 weeks after conception.

It’s the one system that organises every process in your body.

Your thoughts, your actions, the way you look, move and feel all reflect the health of your nervous system..  A clear, healthy nervous system is the foundation you need if you wish to build a great life.

If you are not actively taking steps to maintain the necessary level of coherence and capacity of your nervous system, you are doing things the hard way – and probably missing out.

A bit more about your Nervous System…

The nervous system can be described and divided up in many ways.  Something we cover in the many free workshops we provide for our patients.

At the most basic level you have the “conscious” nervous system.  This is often called the “mind” part of the body-mind.  It’s the part you use to  perceive your conscious reality and make decisions with.  Neuroscience tells us this conscious nervous system is processing approximately 50 bits of information per second.

Then you have the unconscious part of your nervous system, the “body” part of the body-mind. This includes the Autonomic Nervous System (think “automatic” nervous system), that’s running everything in the backgound.  It’s processing a whopping 11 Million bits of information per second (…yes, you read that right).

At Foundation we focus on this unconscious part, the part that’s constantly perceiving your environment, organising every other system.  It’s the foundation of health and it’s the lens through which your conscious mind is unknowingly making all its decisions.

One last note, due to an increasing number of services claiming to work with the nervous system and spine whilst having no formal professional qualification.  Your nervous system is highly sensitive, it has a massive impact on your life and your spine is the central axis of your body, it is of utmost importance to ensure you only engage with professional practitioners who:

–  Hold (preferably multiple) University qualifications pertaining directly to human neurology, physiology and anatomy.
–  Are accredited and accountable to national regulatory boards such as AHPRA.
–  Can show large published and peer reviewed scientific studies that are directly related to the work they are providing.

Re-Frame Symptoms – Simplify Healing 

There’s a good chance you’ve visited this site because you want to free yourself from symptoms such as back and neck pain, headaches, feeling fatigued or stuck etc.  That’s perfectly understandable, you’re in the right place…

However, when we make our symptoms the primary focus, we can sabotage the goal of finding lasting relief from them.  Fortunately, there’s a better way…

In my previous career as an Engineer I’d observe everyday technical faults being addressed with quick fixes and band-aid solutions.  Sure, the quick fixes offered a temporary cover-up for the problem, but the issues eventually returned, often worse than before.  This  would lead to a frustrating cycle of continually patching up chronic issues.

The chronic daily issues would usually occur secondary to an underlying primary problem.  It was only when we shifted our focus to addressing the primary problem that the secondary day-to-day issues could permanently resolve.  It seems obvious in hindsight…

And it’s the same with your health.

Understanding how your symptoms might all be the Secondary Conditions of something deeper, and then shifting your focus to address that Primary Condition considerably simplifies the healing process.

Re-framing symptoms as Secondary Conditions doesn’t mean you disregard  your immediate issues. It simply allows us to focus on addressing your underlying Primary Condition, which is the most direct path to enjoying lasting relief.

At Foundation we won’t waste your time with temporary quick-fixes.  We understand most symptoms are actually Secondary Conditions, and we focus on addressing the Primary Condition that’s causing them.

Discovering the Primary Condition 

Physically Retained Stress
At Foundation we recognize that many common physical and mental conditions are a secondary result of a deeper, often overlooked Primary Condition called Physically Retained Stress (PRS).

This Primary Condition results when unresolved stress responses become stuck in your body past their use-by date.  PRS can accumulate from any time during life, even since birth, and cascade into the many Secondary Conditions that severely impact quality of life.

Stress a Growing Concern
Did you know that 80% of doctor’s visits are for stress-related illnesses?  In our fast-paced, modern world, the prevalence of stress is not just a fleeting inconvenience—it’s a significant health crisis.

Studies show a marked increase in stress-related conditions globally and in Australia, indicating our nervous systems are struggling to adapt to the increasing changes and hectic demands of modern life.

Understanding Stress and Its Effects
An overlooked reason that stress has become such a concern is our misuse of the word “stress”.  It’s crucial to understand what stress is and what it isn’t. We have been mislead to think of stress as purely a psychological problem.

Most people think of stress as situations such as traffic jams, work pressures, relationship issues, etc.  But these events and situations are not stress, they are the “stressors” that trigger stress.

Stress is how your body responds to those stressors, how it handles that event.  Stress is what occurs in the body; in your nervous system, your physiology, throughout your organs and musculoskeletal structure.

Stress is a whole body (mental and physical) response.  It’s a natural mechanism that evolved in nature to help us but it can also cause problems.

The Problem with Modern Stress
In our ancestors’ time, the stress response was vital for survival, but it only ever evolved as a short term solution for life threatening events we encountered in the wild.

The inherent mismatch between that environment we evolved for and the modern environment in which we now live exposes us to stressors that confuse, overwhelm and fatigue our body’s responses. This causes stress to be retained unresolved in the body far beyond its use-by date.

The Concept of Physically Retained Stress
The body’s failure to resolve and deactivate these primitive responses causes them to accumulate, embedding deep within the nervous system and throughout the body’s structure – particularly along the spine.

This is Physically Retained Stress, a Primary Condition that can distort your physical structure, impair organ function and leads to a wide range of physical and mental health concerns.

The First Signs of Physically Retained Stress
The first physical sign of stress is tension.  The first place that tension shows up is in the spine.  Ongoing spinal tension and the pain is causes is an indicator that your body is not effectively processing stress.  Thus, the pain and tension of Physically Retained Stress can represent a precursor of further health issues if not addressed.

From Stress to Chronic Health Issues
Persistent physical conditions (such as neck pain, back pain headaches) that occur due to PRS are more than just a musculoskeletal concern.  Tension in the spine  obstructs the ability of the central nervous system to clearly coordinate the millions of signals required for healthy bodily function, negatively affecting physical performance, mental clarity, overall health and quality of life.

Why Addressing Physically Retained Stress Matters
Tackling PRS goes beyond alleviating the many Secondary Conditions that it causes.  It also aims to re-educate the nervous system to resolve and better manage stress. By focusing on the Primary Condition, we seek to unlock a new level of health and vitality.

A Deeper Dive into Your Healing Journey

Developed, researched and refined over three decades, Foundation’s Neurostructural Optimisation (NSO) offers a gentle but transformative health experience focused on addressing Physically Retained Stress.

What is Neurostructural Optimisation?
NSO aims to provide lasting relief by liberating your body’s innate abilities to heal and self-regulate.  Unlike conventional Chiropractic, there is no forceful cracking or twisting of the spine.  Instead, NSO employs light fingertip contacts at specific points along the spine combined with movement and breath.

How Does It Work?
The sequences of light contacts initiate a dialogue between your brain and body, prompting your brain to reassess and resolve Physically Retained Stress that has accumulated through the body.

Each session of your bespoke Immersive Care Plan builds on the previous one, with an over-all goal to establish a new level of coherence in the nervous system.

You’re an active participant.
NSO is an interactive healing journey.  Each session is an opportunity for you to develop greater awareness and connection with your body.   Learn to work with your body’s rhythms using subtle movements and directed breathing. Experience how your body can processes stress.

Beyond Pain Relief
Neurostructural Optimisation cares for the whole person.   Peer reviewed research following more than 2800 patients indicates potential improvements in different areas of life, including:

Enhanced mental clarity and energy.

Improved stress resilience.

Better posture and physical performance.

Increased sense of well-being and vitality.

Long-term Health and Vitality

Foundation’s  “big picture” approach aims to extend these benefits into your future.   A resilient and responsive nervous system allows you to lead a more active, fulfilling life.

Ready to Begin?
If you’re ready to explore how Foundation’s Neurostructural Optimisation might help you transcend your current health challenges and build the life you’d rather be living, we invite you to visit our practice in Mona Vale.

Click Here to start your journey towards a healthier, more vibrant life.

What to expect as a new patient

The best way to learn about how we help is to experience it for yourself. the first step is to book your Complimentary Introductory Consult .

1) The Introductory Consult is a conversation.  Together we will discuss your current health concerns, your history, and the results you want.  Our priority here is ensuring you are heard, understood and that we have all the information we need.

2) If the information we gather indicates that you’re a fit for how we help, you will have the option to proceed with a thorough Neurostructural Assessment ($110).

This includes:
Comprehensive Physiological Screen,
3D Biostructural Assessment,
Neurological Evaluation and Segmental Spinal Analysis.

We explain the results of this assessment ensuring you understand what we have found and how it relates to your concerns. Then, due to our inherently gentle care, we proceed with your first NeuroStructural Adjustment (…yes, we provide treatment on the first visit).

3) Using the  assessment results and your response to the first adjustment, we design your personalised Immersive Care Plan.  This initial course of care includes Adjustments, Rehabilitation Exercises, Breath work and Complementary Health Recommendations, as required.

Click Here to start your journey towards a healthier, more vibrant life.